Above Cake Island at this very moment!
Gales stirred the clouds across the sky, gathering at an altitude of ten thousand meters, rapidly forming dark clouds as thick as city walls.
Dazzling lightning transformed into electric snakes and thunder dragons, flickering through the dim sky, illuminating the faces of the tens of thousands of pirates below, which flickered in turn.
Within this suddenly darkened sky.
Amidst the roaring and flashing of thunder across the sky.
A divine bird with a wingspan of hundreds of meters, its entire body looking as if cast from brilliant gold, spread its wings and cleared the thick sea of clouds, appearing before the eyes of Silver Axe and the others.
With the appearance of the golden divine bird.
A vast and endless, heavy aura, like the sky and the sea, emanated from the golden divine bird descending from ten thousand meters above, pressing down from the sky.
In an instant.
The entire Cake Island, along with the sky over the surrounding tens of kilometers of sea, gave birth to howling gales out of thin air.
The waves were stirred, beginning to rise and fall violently, crashing loudly, with a faint tendency to form a tsunami.
On the pirate ships swaying and tossing with the undulating seawater, thousands upon thousands of pirates involuntarily looked up at the sky, gazing at the giant golden bird that had captured everyone's attention.
At this moment.
The existence of that giant bird seemed to have become the center of this world.
Some pirates opened their mouths wide, letting out cries of disbelief.
"What... is that? A bird? It's too big, it's just like the Sea Kings."
Some pirates hadn't seen it before but had faint guesses, their voices trembling.
"If I'm not mistaken, that might be... the Golden Garuda! The most powerful Mythical Zoan in the world right now! It's the ability of the Heavenly King, Sorus Karlo!"
"Zoan-type, Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Garuda Model!"
And some pirates who had the fortune of seeing Karlo use his ability, members of the former Rocks Pirates, completely recognized the newcomer.
"That's right! That's Heavenly King Carlo! He's just like our Boss Shiki, a former Division Captain of the Rocks Pirates! Not long ago, right under the nose of Marineford, he destroyed over a dozen warships, slaughtered tens of thousands of Marines, and nearly killed Black Arm Zephyr!"
"The most wanted criminal on the seas right now!"
"Bounty! 4,444,000,000 Berries!!"
The pirate who spoke this terrifying bounty figure, a New World pirate Captain whose bounty had just surpassed a hundred million, had his eyes wide open, his throat bobbing, and his legs softening uncontrollably, as he fell to his knees with a thud!
However, at this moment.
None of the surrounding pirates came to mock his incompetence.
Because as the giant golden bird that blotted out the sun descended overhead.
A terrifying pressure, like mountains and seas, also descended, permeating the hearts of every pirate present, pressing down until they couldn't breathe.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
Under the oppression of this aura that filled heaven and earth, more and more pirates could not withstand the terrifying pressure, falling to their knees one after another, drenched in cold sweat.
Feeling the panic gradually spreading around, Silver Axe licked his lips, took a deep breath, and was about to shout, wanting to talk to this uninvited guest, Karlo, first.
However, his mouth had just opened, and the word 'Kar' hadn't even come out.
From the incredibly majestic golden divine bird, like a mythical beast, thousands of meters above, bursts of dazzling golden lightning suddenly erupted!
"Zzzt—Zzzt—"
"Rumble—!!"
Thick bolts of golden lightning burst from the giant bird, like a golden thunderstorm, instantly impacting and spreading toward the sky and the ground.
The golden lightning formed a physical shockwave in the sky.
Striking upwards, it tore through the cloud-covered vault of heaven, as if splitting the entire sky into dozens of pieces.
Striking downwards, it formed gales, churning the sea, raising tsunamis, blowing away the sand and Rocks on the island, and creating a sandstorm that blotted out the sun!
In an instant.
The weather over the entire Totto Land sea area changed drastically!
On Cake Island below, Silver Axe, gazing up at this shocking scene, already had his mouth wide open.
"Is this... Co... Co... Conqueror's Haki??"
"You've got to be kidding me! This kind of power... even Shiki..."
The dense sound of bodies hitting the ground came from behind.
Silver Axe turned around with a stiff body.
He saw the pirate army of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands behind him falling like a receding tide the moment the golden lightning bloomed.
Everyone's eyes rolled back, foam came from their mouths, and they fell unconscious.
Some of the weaker ones were even shaken until they bled from their seven orifices, dying on the spot!
Under the impact of this golden lightning, all the fires on Cake Island—which had been bombarded for dozens of minutes and were still burning fiercely—were instantly extinguished.
On the pirate ships on the distant sea, tens of thousands of pirates fell unconscious, ship after ship.
When the golden lightning stopped blooming.
The entire Cake Island and the surrounding sea area had become incredibly silent.
In the field.
Less than a few dozen people remained conscious and standing.
Hmm... it seems the Golden Lion did indeed recruit many New World pirates of decent strength.
To have dozens of pirates still standing.
These people were all pirate Captains who had struggled for years in the New World.
Now, they had all, either actively or passively, attached themselves to the Golden Lion's Flying Pirate Crew.
Each was a skilled hand with a bounty of over a hundred million, or even several hundred million Berries.
Until now.
The golden giant bird descending from the sky rapidly shrank, transforming into a tall, white-haired man. Holding an ordinary-looking pitch-black halberd in one hand, he stepped through the invisible void, surrounded by wind and thunder, descending step by step from the sky onto Cake Island!
Like a god!
Among the many siblings, the only one still conscious was Katakuri.
At this moment, he looked up, blankly gazing at this white-haired man who was both familiar and somewhat strange. A mark was quietly etched into his young but determined heart.
If he could possess power as great as the man before him.
Then he could perfectly protect his siblings of the Charlotte Family.
Katakuri knew.
This was difficult.
Even harder than surpassing his naturally monstrous Mama!
Because the man before him was even more powerful than his Mama!
And much more powerful!
But, it wasn't completely impossible!
Because Katakuri knew well.
Even the now-mighty Heavenly King Carlo was once a green youth.
Back then, when he was still young, he had personally witnessed the scene of Karlo being suppressed and beaten by his Mama.
He had also personally seen Karlo being defeated by the Golden Lion, by Whitebeard, and crushed by Rocks.
But it was precisely Karlo's repeated defeats, his repeated struggles, and his indomitable spirit through a hundred battles!
That resulted in this current power that overawed the sea, where his mere appearance instantly suppressed the entire battlefield!
As a bystander who had personally witnessed Karlo honing himself step by step and rising to power.
At this moment, Katakuri was convinced.
Since Karlo could do it.
Then he could do it too!
He glanced at the halberd in Karlo's hand, then looked down at his own Mogura spear. His hands, weakened by the Sea Stone shackles, suddenly clenched into fists, and a light like never before appeared in his eyes.
"Karlo! One day... I will become as strong as you! Even... surpass you!"
The moment this thought emerged in Katakuri's mind.
A mass of black and red light, beginning to take shape, suddenly erupted from his still somewhat thin body, spreading outward and whipping up a gale in the field.
The gale blowing from behind snapped the dazed Silver Axe awake.
He glanced back at Katakuri.
He hadn't expected that Linlin's child would also have the potential for Haoshoku, and even awakened it at this moment.
But... now was not the time to consider this.
Watching Karlo walk down from the sky step by step and finally land on the ground, Silver Axe took a deep breath, steeled himself to meet him, and said in a heavy voice:
"Karlo, what are you doing here? This is a matter between our Flying Pirate Crew and Linlin's pirate crew; it seems to have nothing to do with you, does it?"
His wording was relatively tactful.
He didn't immediately start questioning Karlo aggressively.
The truth was, he was a bit frightened.
The Haoshoku Karlo had just unleashed, that terrifying power that instantly suppressed the sea and knocked out tens of thousands of pirates, was many times stronger than Charlotte Linlin's Haoshoku.
It's true that Haoshoku can knock people unconscious.
But the pirates he brought were all New World pirates seasoned in chaos.
Not to say every one of them was powerful.
But at least in terms of mental willpower, they were quite capable.
Far exceeding those pirates playing house in the Grand Line.
Linlin had tried releasing Haoshoku before, wanting to knock these pirates out.
But it hadn't produced such an exaggerated effect as Karlo's.
One must know that the tens of thousands of pirates here were spread across Cake Island and its surroundings, with the furthest even being on the sea over a dozen kilometers away.
Yet even from such a distance, and with the Haoshoku released from thousands of meters up in the sky.
It could still cause such a total wipeout effect.
In Silver Axe's view, the intensity of this Haoshoku was already no less than the Golden Lion's.
If nothing else, just imagine what kind of destructive power would be caused if this intensity of Haoshoku were infused into that Supreme Grade Halberd weighing dozens of tons in Karlo's hand.
Just thinking about it made Silver Axe's scalp tingle.
He didn't think his Karma Power could withstand Karlo's full-strength attack now.
Did he think it was six years ago?
Wait... damn it, I couldn't withstand it six years ago either, alright!
If he hadn't paid one billion berries in protection money, and if Shiki hadn't been backing him, he would have been finished six years ago!
Thinking of this, Silver Axe's confidence grew even weaker.
He now desperately needed the Golden Lion to come and back him up.
Hearing Silver Axe's tone, which seemed like an interrogation but was actually more like a negotiation, Karlo smiled indifferently and looked at Linlin, who was bound by dozens of Sea Stone chains.
"I'm here to repay a favor. I'm the kind of person who always settles scores and repays kindness. I owe Linlin a favor, and now she's asking me to return it. Silver axe, you tell me, should I repay it?"
I don't care if you repay it or not! None of my damn business!
Silver Axe rolled his eyes.
Of course.
He did it in his head.
On the surface, he still maintained his expression, saying in a slightly displeased tone: "So, Karlo, you've made up your mind to help Linlin?"
"Mm-hmm."
Silver Axe's heart sank instantly; he stared at Karlo with a grim expression.
"Karlo, you're making things very difficult for me."
Karlo's lips curled. "Difficult? Then don't do it!"
Flip the table! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Alright.
There was no table here for him to flip... Silver Axe took another deep breath, forcibly suppressing his crumbling mood, and said in a heavy voice:
"Karlo, if you help Linlin, you're interfering in the affairs of my Flying Pirate Crew, and you're making an enemy of us. Have you considered the consequences?"
"What consequences?"
Karlo brushed past Silver Axe on his own, walked up to Katakuri, smiled at him, and reached out to pat Katakuri's head.
Hmm... the lad's growing up fast.
Only ten years old and already nearly three meters tall.
He even awakened Haoshoku just now.
As expected of one of his favorite characters when he was following the manga.
Being patted on the head by a smiling Karlo.
Katakuri felt a bit bashful.
A flush actually appeared on his face with its slit mouth.
Actually, he wasn't usually this shy or timid.
The main reason was that Karlo truly was his idol.
Didn't you see that he even chose a polearm as his weapon, just like Karlo?
In fact.
If it weren't for the fact that halberds are so uncommon and he couldn't find a good one.
He wouldn't use this three-pointed spear as a weapon either.
At this moment, being given such an affectionate head pat by the target he wanted to catch up to, the idol he worshipped.
Even Katakuri, who was precocious and already considered himself a little adult, couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed.
He lowered his head somewhat bashfully.
Then, he heard Carlo's voice in his ear.
"Great job, Katakuri. I saw what you did just now; you didn't bring shame to the Charlotte Family or your Mama. And you even awakened Haoshoku. Now, you are a true man."
Hearing Carlo's praise.
Katakuri looked up.
There was a light in his eyes!
Looking at Katakuri, who was pursing his lips, Carlo smiled and said, "You want to surpass me, right?"
Katakuri was stunned, and the embarrassment on his face deepened.
His face burned with embarrassment.
Because his unrealistic, arrogant dream had actually been seen through by Carlo.
The other person would surely laugh at him, right?
He was clearly so weak, so weak that he couldn't even protect his siblings... yet he still held onto a glimmer of hope.
He asked back somewhat unwillingly, "Is it not allowed? Are you... looking down on me?"
After saying this.
Katakuri prepared himself to be severely scorned and mocked by Carlo.
However.
He saw a gentle smile appear on Carlo's face.
"Look down on you? No, I think you can do it."
"W-What?" Katakuri's eyes widened instantly. Thinking he had misheard, he looked at Carlo in disbelief.
Carlo reached out again, pressed his hand on his head, and rubbed vigorously, messing up his hair.
"If it's you, Katakuri, I believe you can surpass me. Keep at it. When that day comes, your dream of protecting your family will truly be realized. I'll be watching you."
Katakuri's body shook violently.
He didn't push away Carlo's large hand.
He lowered his head deeply, staring at his toes, not wanting Carlo to see his reddened eyes.
"Hey! Carlo! Are you even listening to me?!"
Behind him, Silver Axe, who had been warning Carlo for a long time in various tones—sometimes tough, sometimes not—saw that Carlo completely ignored him and instead went to bond with a Little Brat. He was nearly exploding with rage.
Carlo still ignored him.
He first squatted down, crushed the Sea Stone shackles on Katakuri's feet and tossed them aside, before finally standing up and looking back.
"Where were we? Consequences... right, what consequences?"
Silver Axe gritted his teeth in anger, suppressing the urge to swing his axe, and repeated word by word:
"The consequence of you helping Linlin is a full-scale war with our Flying Pirate Crew! It means completely falling out with Shiki! Carlo! You'd better think carefully. With the current strength of your Sky Pirates, you are simply no match for our Flying Pirate Crew. Don't make a mistake!"
"Give me some face," Carlo suddenly blurted out out of nowhere.
Silver Axe was stunned: "Huh? What did you say?"
"I said, give me some face." Carlo looked at Linlin, whose eyes were still red, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly. "For my sake, withdraw from Linlin's territory. From now on, the Totto Land archipelago will be managed by Linlin."
"I..." Silver Axe opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know where to start.
Actually give Carlo face and agree to his demand?
That's impossible!
The Totto Land archipelago wasn't just a small piece of territory.
This sea area had over thirty islands of various sizes.
Exploration had revealed high-value mineral deposits on many of the islands.
Moreover, the geographical location was excellent, situated in the heart of the New World.
If they could take this place.
It would be very important for both the Flying Pirate Crew's trade and its strategic significance in the future.
But if he didn't give Carlo face... what if Carlo went on a rampage on the spot?
Shiki wasn't here.
What could he use to resist?
Could he really expect Kurozumi Higurashi to transform into someone else to threaten Carlo?
Come to think of it, this guy Carlo didn't seem to particularly care about anyone, did he?
Who did he care about?
It seemed to be... Rocks?
Roger?
Garp?
Newgate?
To hell with it!
This guy Carlo's brain is totally abnormal!
In short.
He couldn't give Carlo face.
But he couldn't not give it either.
Thus, Silver Axe fell into a long silence.
The expression on his face was like he was constipated.
He couldn't give an answer.
But someone stepped forward.
"Captain Carlo, it's not impossible for us to give you this face. But we also have a condition. If you can do it, we'll turn around and leave, return Cake Island to Linlin, and let Boss Shiki come and talk about the rest personally. If you can't, then please don't interfere in this matter. How about it?"
"Hmm?" Silver Axe turned around abruptly and saw the two siblings of the Kurozumi family coming down from the pirate ship and walking toward them.
The one speaking was Kurozumi Higurashi.
Seeing Kurozumi Higurashi suddenly speak like this, Silver Axe didn't interrupt.
Because he roughly guessed what the condition Kurozumi Higurashi mentioned was.
If they could use a scheme to make Carlo back down, that wouldn't be bad either.
Therefore, he instead spoke up in support of Kurozumi Higurashi.
"Exactly, Carlo. Your face is indeed very big, and logically we must give it to you. But we also have to consider Shiki's face. If you want us all to withdraw with just one sentence, wouldn't that hurt Shiki's face? What do you think?"
Carlo looked at Kurozumi Higurashi and Kurozumi Semimaru. "In Wano Country, it's still your Kurozumi family that has brains, unlike the Kozuki family, who are all brainless fools."
"Oh? Captain Carlo even knows about the affairs of Wano Country?"
Hearing Carlo say this, Kurozumi Higurashi's eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on her seductive face.
She was very satisfied with Carlo's evaluation of her Kurozumi family.
Her gaze toward Carlo became much softer.
"Just as Captain Carlo said, compared to our Kurozumi family, the Kozuki family are indeed all brainless fools!"
To her surprise, Carlo shook his head and laughed.
"I think you've misunderstood my meaning."
"Hmm?" Kurozumi Higurashi was stunned.
Carlo smiled: "What I meant was, your Kurozumi family has brains, but not many. You only know some petty tricks; in the end, you're not presentable and will never achieve greatness."
"You!" The siblings, Kurozumi Higurashi and Kurozumi Semimaru, immediately turned red with rage.
Furious, Kurozumi Higurashi stopped being polite and looked directly at Kurozumi Semimaru behind her, shouting: "Semimaru! Come! Let's see if the powerful Captain Carlo can break your barrier!"
"Yes."
Kurozumi Semimaru was also somewhat angry. He stepped forward, crossed his hands, and as his fingers moved, a transparent square shield appeared around him, enveloping his entire body.
Kurozumi Higurashi looked at Carlo with a sneer, pointing at the barrier shield released by Kurozumi Semimaru.
"Carlo! This is our condition! If you can break Semimaru's barrier, we will give you this face. If you can't, then... go back to your own territory and stop interfering in the affairs of our Flying Pirate Crew!"
She originally wanted to say "get lost."
But after glancing at the halberd in Carlo's hand, she held back.
Hearing Kurozumi Higurashi say this.
The pirates who were still conscious couldn't help but show smiles, expecting a good show.
They knew very well.
The barrier released by Kurozumi Semimaru was simply unbreakable.
Linlin had tried it before too.
The Ikoku she slashed out couldn't shake the barrier in the slightest.
In fact.
Let alone Linlin.
Even if Golden Lion himself took action, with his world-class swordsmanship enhanced by Haoshoku infusion, he still wouldn't be able to cut through Kurozumi Semimaru's barrier.
This was an unsolvable ability.
It was an invincible defense.
Kurozumi Semimaru was a Paramecia-type Barrier-Barrier Fruit user.
Carlo naturally knew this as well.
The barrier generated by the Barrier-Barrier Fruit could withstand at least Emperor-level attacks.
But it probably wasn't truly invincible.
After all, in the manga, Bartolomeo, who has the Barrier-Barrier Fruit ability, was still defeated by the Red Hair Pirates.
He just didn't know how Shanks had broken Barto's barrier.
"Was it with Haoshoku?"
Thinking this, Carlo directly raised the heavenly dragon halberd in his hand and slashed down at Kurozumi Semimaru, who had confidently released his barrier.
He didn't use Haoshoku.
He just used his physical strength to deliver a slash.
In the next instant.
"Boom!!"
A world-shaking explosion rang out, nearly bursting the eardrums of the surrounding pirates who were hoping for a show. They all covered their ears, their faces contorted in pain.
In front of them, sand and stones suddenly swirled up.
A bottomless crack spread forward from in front of Carlo, ending right where Kurozumi Semimaru was.
Kurozumi Semimaru... wait!
Where was Kurozumi Semimaru???
The pirates were dumbfounded.
Silver Axe was dumbfounded.
Kurozumi Higurashi was also dumbfounded.
Because they found that Kurozumi Semimaru had disappeared!
Kurozumi Semimaru, who had been confidently waiting for Carlo's attack with a barrier protecting his whole body, was now nowhere to be seen.
All that remained was a long, narrow crack extending to the shore of Cake Island.
On the sea outside the island, there was also a rift in the water that had been sliced open, stretching for over ten miles and slowly closing.
Over a dozen pirate ships, sliced in half, were falling powerlessly into that rift.
"Semimaru!" Kurozumi Higurashi rushed to the shore, looking at the endless, vast sea before her, her face filled with bewilderment.
She didn't know where her brother, Kurozumi Semimaru, had been sent flying by Carlo's halberd slash.
Now that Semimaru was gone...
...no one knew if the barrier on him had been broken by Carlo.
Kurozumi Higurashi never expected that Carlo would solve her "unsolvable" move this way.
"Hahaha, serves you right!" Katakuri laughed from the side.
Looking at the vast sea, not knowing where to find her brother Semimaru or if he was even alive, Kurozumi Higurashi's seductive face was suddenly filled with rage.
She turned around indignantly, her eyes blazing with fire as she glared at Carlo.
"You bastard, Carlo! How dare you...!"
"Boom!!"
Before she could finish her sentence, a giant palm struck down from above. Under her horrified and shocked gaze, it slapped her still-pretty face.
There was a loud boom.
Kurozumi Higurashi's shapely body, like collapsing building blocks, shattered inch by inch and exploded with a bang.
A huge, sunken palm print over ten meters in diameter appeared on the ground where Kurozumi Higurashi had been standing.
And Kurozumi Higurashi, who had been standing there, was gone.
Only a radial smear of blood remained at the center of the palm print, like the remains of a mosquito crushed by a giant hand.
Seeing this bloody and terrifying scene, all the surrounding pirates—including Katakuri, Silver Axe, and the others—fell silent as statues, looking fearfully at the man who had suddenly struck with such violence.
Carlo slowly withdrew his hand and looked at Silver Axe, whose legs were a bit weak, a kind smile appearing on his face.
"Now, is there anyone else who won't give me face?"
"If there are any other conditions, feel free to bring them up. I'm a very reasonable person. Don't you agree, Silver axe?"